


Stop And Eat the Roses

by alienchrist



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen, Humor, Silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-15
Updated: 2010-09-15
Packaged: 2017-10-11 20:44:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/116900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alienchrist/pseuds/alienchrist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once again, trouble is caused by a growl of Sokka's stomach.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stop And Eat the Roses

**Author's Note:**

> Written for LJ user **erised1810** , for http://community.livejournal.com/ineedmyfics/.

The trouble started, like so many things did, with a growl of Sokka's stomach. Aang, Katara and Sokka were gathered around the campfire. Appa dozed nearby, and Momo was curled up in Aang's lap. It was a peaceful enough scene, identical to many other nights they'd spent on their journey to Ba Sing Se. The daylight slipped away as the gang finished dinner. Katara poked a little at the fire with a stick, glaring up at her brother with an annoyed and incredulous expression.

"You can't seriously be hungry after _you_ ate the last of the pounded root cakes," she said.

"Root cakes aren't filling," Sokka groused. "I'm a growing man. I need meat to keep my strength up! I'm so weak I can barely lift my club!" To prove his point, he attempted to lift his club in a dramatic movement. His arm went as limp as a noodle. The club kicked up some dirt that landed on Momo's nose. Momo wakened with a tiny sneeze, wiped off his nose and shot Sokka an offended look. He climbed onto Aang's shoulders and flew off for a safer spot on Appa's head.

Aang snickered. Katara rolled her eyes.

"I'll go hunting tomorrow," Sokka said. "A forest like this has to have some tasty animals living in it - there's meat out there, I can smell it!" All the talk of meat seemed to have revitalized the teen boy's spirits. His blue eyes sparkled wide as if he were gazing at a heaping plate of arctic hen at that very moment.

"We could definitely use the supplies, we're down to last of what we bought in town," Katara admitted. Knowing that only she and Sokka were the only ones in the group who ate any meat, she said, "Try and find us some more roots too, okay?"

"I'm a warrior! Warriors do not dig for roots!" Unsurprisingly, Sokka was suddenly able to use his club to gesticulate and pose just like the warrior he was. Apparently, the strength to wield it had returned. Once again, Katara rolled her eyes.

"I'll help you dig for roots!" Aang volunteered. "And I think I saw some taffy rose bushes while we were flying over, too! The blossoms are just like candy!"

"We don't have time to stop and pick flowers, Aang." Katara reminded him, "I expect you to be up bright and early for our waterbending lesson. We still have a lot of work to do."

"Can't we just pick a few? I'm getting pretty tired of pounded root cakes and leechi nuts!"

"Maybe after our practice," Katara said, gentle but firm. "Now let's get ready for bed. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

In those very same woods, not far from them, a tangled mass of thorny bushes stood in a clearing. Each bush had a half-dozen salmon pink roses on it. The posies looked delicate, the petals like a spun confection. Though the sun was gone, each vibrant bloom remained open and welcoming. A scorpion bee buzzed near the top of one bush, lured by the roses' sweet scent. It landed on one of the flowers only to find the petals coated in a thick, rubbery glue. Its legs were stuck fast, and the bug soon panicked. As the scorpion bee struggled to get away, the blossom snapped closed like the jaws of a wild beast, remaining shut fast for several moments. The flower bud flexed and writhed for several moments. The frantic buzzing stopped as the creature trapped inside suffocated.

When it opened again, the rose was as flawlessly beautiful as ever.

~~

Morning came early for hungry Sokka. He took off as the first fingers of light worked their way through the tree branches, moving deftly and silently despite his empty stomach. He searched for the usual sign of larger animals, tracks and scat. As he crouched to examine a cloven hoof-print in the mud, the leaves and branches around him swayed with a gentle breeze. Carried on the breeze was a cloying, sugary scent. His stomach gave a mighty growl. Recalling what Aang said about taffy flowers, Sokka happily followed his nose. Sure, he had resolved to go hunting first thing, but what was the harm in at least checking it out?

Soon, Sokka came across the grove of enticing pink roses. The flowers were dazzling in the early morning light, and smelled like the best sweets in the history of ever. Sokka quickly forgot his manly meat-hunger in favor of the flowers, as if hypnotized by the scent. Each rose took on a delectable appearance in Sokka's mind: a moon peach here, a fruit pie there, some even looked like egg custard tarts. Bewitched by his visions, Sokka began to drool a little. "Awright, breakfast!" he shouted gleefully.

It ought to have been a simple enough task to cut himself a few roses, consume them, and return to the task of hunting. However, Sokka's life rarely proved to be so simple, and today was no exception. As he hurried toward his imaginary moon peaches and fruit pies, he tripped over a baby boar-q-pine napping in a tall patch of grass. The animal was unperturbed, and went plodding on its way. Sokka, on the other hand, had stubbed his toes on one of the boar-q-pine's needles. The pain was brief but excruciating. Sokka immediately grabbed his foot. "Ow, ow, ow!" he said, punctuating each awkward, one-legged hop with a complaint.

As usual, bad turned to worse. Sokka accidentally hopped right into his destination. His blue eyes filled with a sort of pathetic resignation in the split second before he fell into the thorny thicket. He had only a moment to realize what was about to happen and no way to resist his own momentum. Thus, he crashed in, tumbling through the brambles.

"Why does this always happen to me?" Sokka bellowed in righteous indignation at the sky. The sky was indifferent to his suffering.

Fortunately, Aang and Katara were not as indifferent. Hearing Sokka's cries for help, they came running. The sight they found was humorous, if startling. The flowers were open and latched to Sokka's skin like pentapis suckered onto him by reflex. As a result, he was covered head-to-toe with their viscid, bright pink mucilage, and so closely surrounded by the thorny plants it was difficult to move without getting scratched up.

"You found the taffy roses!" Aang laughed.

"Don't laugh at me! _They are trying to eat me!_ "

"They do that," Aang said agreeably. "You gotta be careful, when they sense something touching their petals, they just try and close around whatever's nearby. They're harmless to humans, but kinda messy."

Sokka groaned, "Now he tells me."

"Here, I'll help you up," said Aang, just as Katara and Sokka both warned him, "Don't!"

It was too late. Aang reached out to take Sokka's hands and pull him up, only to become stuck to Sokka himself. Struggling to get free, he tried to propel away with a blast of air from his mouth. The ropey pink substance stretched out several feet, but didn't give way. Aang snapped back into Sokka like a stone from a slingshot, and they both ricocheted further into the plant. Now, in addition to being glued to a mass of plants and petals, they were glued to one another.

Curious about the hubbub, Momo glided down from a nearby tree. Crawling all over the two boys in an attempt to pull them apart, the lemur somehow became lodged between the two. Lemur screeching was now added to the chaos.

"Don't just stand there, Katara!" Sokka yelled, "Do something!"

"Okay, okay! Calm down. Do you want the whole Earth Kingdom to know we're here?" With a huff of annoyance, Katara drew out her water skin. She exhaled, and a calmness settled over her as she bended water to cover the writhing pink mass of boys and lemur. She froze them solid.

For a moment, Katara considered leaving them that way. With a small smirk she urged the frozen mass out of the bushes and sent it flying into the nearby river. There, she bended the ice away. The current carried away the mess.

Later, as Sokka and Aang wrung out their clothes, Katara remarked, "Weren't you going hunting? What were you even doing in a bunch of taffy bushes anyway?"

"They smelled _so_ good," Sokka said, eyes bright and shimmering.

"When food is concerned, you sure are easily distracted," Aang said.

"Maybe we shouldn't let you go hunting alone when you're hungry, then," said Katara.

"You may be right." Sokka gave his chin a thoughtful scratch. "On the other hand, after today, I'm not sure I really want to _stick together_!"

Sokka's guffaws echoed through the forest. Another scorpion bee made the mistake of landing on a taffy rose, and was promptly eaten.

~the end~


End file.
